Information processing device, information processing system, program, and information processing method

ABSTRACT

An information processing device has an obtaining unit, a controller, and a giving unit. The obtaining unit can obtain vehicle information. The controller creates first warning information when the passability of a road in the vehicle information indicates non-passable. The controller creates recovery information when the passability of the road at the same position in the vehicle information indicates passable, after creation of the first warning information. The giving unit gives the recovery information.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/731,983 filed Dec. 31, 2019 (allowed), which claims priority fromJapanese Patent Application No. 2019-010526 filed on Jan. 24, 2019. Theentire disclosures of the prior applications are considered part of thedisclosure of the accompanying continuation application, and are herebyincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The disclosure relates to an information processing device, informationprocessing system, program, and information processing method.

2. Description of Related Art

It is known to improve a wide variety of convenience, by communicating awide variety of information using communication functions included invehicles. For example, a communication system as described in JapaneseUnexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2017-151942 (JP2017-151942 A) is allowed to inform following vehicles of dangerous roadconditions, such as accumulated snow, compacted snow, freezing, andflooding.

SUMMARY

With the following vehicles thus informed of dangerous road conditions,drivers of the following vehicles may be encouraged to drive safely whenpassing a road in a dangerous road condition, or avoid passing the road,as described in JP 2017-151942 A. As a result, the safety of traffic canbe improved. However, the dangerous road condition may disappear as timepasses, and the smoothness of traffic flow may deteriorate if thevehicles are kept informed even after the dangerous road conditiondisappears.

The disclosure provides an information processing device, informationprocessing system, program, and information processing method, whichcurb reduction of the smoothness of traffic flow, while improving thesafety of traffic.

An information processing device according to a first aspect of thedisclosure includes an obtaining unit configured to obtain vehicleinformation including passability of a road and a position of the road,from a vehicle-mounted information processing device installed on avehicle, a controller configured to create first warning informationindicating that the position of the road is non-passable when thepassability of the road in the vehicle information indicatesnon-passable, and create recovery information indicating that theposition of the road becomes passable, when the passability of the roadat the same position as the position of the road in the first warninginformation, in another piece of the vehicle information, indicatespassable, after creation of the first warning information, and a givingunit configured to give the first warning information and the recoveryinformation.

An information processing system according to a second aspect of thedisclosure includes a vehicle-mounted information processing deviceconfigured to give vehicle information including passability of a roadbased on a surrounding image, and a position of the road, and aninformation processing device. The information processing device has acontroller configured to create first warning information indicatingthat the position of the road is non-passable when the passability ofthe road in the vehicle information indicates non-passable, and createrecovery information indicating that the position of the road ispassable, when the passability of the road at the same position as theposition of the road in the first warning information, in the vehicleinformation, indicates passable, after creation of the first warninginformation, and a giving unit configured to give the first warninginformation and the recovery information

A program according to a third aspect of the disclosure causes aninformation processing device to execute a step of obtaining vehicleinformation including passability of a road and a position of the road,from a vehicle-mounted information processing device installed on avehicle, a step of creating first warning information indicating thatthe position of the road is non-passable, when the passability of theroad in the vehicle information indicates non-passable, a step of givingthe first warning information, a step of obtaining vehicle informationincluding the passability and the position of the road from thevehicle-mounted information processing device installed on the vehicle,after giving the first warning information, a step of creating recoveryinformation indicating that the position of the road is passable, whenthe passability of the road at the same position as the position of theroad in the first warning information, in the vehicle information,indicates passable, and a step of giving the recovery information.

An information processing method according to a fourth aspect of thedisclosure includes obtaining vehicle information including passabilityof a road and a position of the road, from a vehicle-mounted informationprocessing device installed on a vehicle, creating first warninginformation indicating that the position of the road is non-passable,when the passability of the road in the vehicle information indicatesnon-passable, giving the first warning information, obtaining vehicleinformation including the passability and the position of the road fromthe vehicle-mounted information processing device installed on thevehicle, after giving the first warning information, creating recoveryinformation indicating that the position of the road is passable, whenthe passability of the road at the same position as the position of theroad in the first warning information, in the vehicle information,indicates passable, and giving the recovery information.

The information processing device, information processing system,program, and information processing method according to the aboveaspects of the disclosure make it possible to curb reduction of thesmoothness of traffic flow, while improving the safety of traffic.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features, advantages, and technical and industrial significance ofexemplary embodiments of the disclosure will be described below withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals denotelike elements, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing the overall configuration ofan information processing system including an information processingdevice according to one embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the general configurationof a vehicle of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing the general configurationof the information processing device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing the general configurationof an information provision device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a vehicle information giving processexecuted by a controller of a vehicle-mounted information processingdevice which does not perform extraction of roads;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a vehicle information giving processexecuted by the controller of the vehicle-mounted information processingdevice which performs extraction of roads;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a road condition checking processexecuted by a controller of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a first node setting process executedby the controller of the vehicle-mounted information processing deviceof FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a second node setting processexecuted by the controller of the vehicle-mounted information processingdevice of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a route searching process executedby the controller of the vehicle-mounted information processing deviceof FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

One embodiment of the disclosure will be described with reference to thedrawings.

Referring to FIG. 1, an information processing system 11 including aninformation processing device 10 according to one embodiment of thedisclosure will be briefly described. The information processing system11 includes vehicles 12, information processing device 10, andinformation provision device 13. Each vehicle 12 is an automobile, forexample, but is not limited to this, but may be any type of vehicle.While two vehicles 12 are illustrated in FIG. 1, for the sake ofsimplicity of description, the number of the vehicles 12 included in theinformation processing system 11 may be any value equal to or largerthan one. Each of the information processing device 10 and theinformation provision device 13 includes one server device, or two ormore server devices that can communicate with each other. The vehicles12, information processing device 10, and information provision device13 are connected to a network 14 including a mobile telecommunicationnetwork and the Internet, for example, such that they can communicatewith the network 14.

In this embodiment, each vehicle 12 gives vehicle information to theinformation processing device 10. The vehicle information includes awide variety of information detected by the vehicle 12 itself, andinformation obtained by processing the detected information. Whenpassability of a certain road included in the vehicle informationobtained from the vehicle 12 indicates “non-passable”, the informationprocessing device 10 creates first warning information indicating thatthe position of the road is non-passable, namely, the vehicle is unableto pass the road at the position. The information processing device 10gives the first warning information to the vehicles 12 and theinformation provision device 13, for example. When the passability ofthe road in other vehicle information obtained after creation of thefirst warning information, where the road is at the same position asthat of the road included in the first warning information, indicates“passable”, the information processing device 10 creates recoveryinformation indicating that the position of the road is passable,namely, the vehicle is able to pass the road at the position. Theinformation processing device 10 gives the recovery information to thevehicles 12 and the information provision device 13, for example. Thevehicles 12 can enjoy route searching based on the recovery information.

Thus, according to this embodiment, the passability of any given road ispromptly detected from a large quantity of vehicles 12 traveling over abroad area. Further, the first warning information is given to thevehicles 12, etc. when the passability indicates “non-passable”;therefore, it is possible to promptly prevent the vehicles from passingthe road when the road is determined as being non-passable. Further,when the road becomes passable after creation of the first warninginformation, passage of vehicles on the road concerned can be promptlyresumed, so that smoothness of traffic flow can be made less likely orunlikely to be reduced.

Next, each component of the information processing system 11 will bedescribed in detail.

As shown in FIG. 2, a communication device 15 and a vehicle-mountedinformation processing device 16 are installed on each vehicle 12. Thecommunication device 15 and vehicle-mounted information processingdevice 16 are connected via an on-vehicle network, such as CAN(Controller Area Network), or exclusive line.

The communication device 15 is an on-vehicle communication device, suchas a data communication module (DCM). More specifically, thecommunication device 15 includes a communication unit 17, storage unit18, and controller 19.

The communication unit 17 includes a communication module that performscommunications via the on-vehicle network or exclusive line. Also, thecommunication unit 17 includes a communication module connected to thenetwork 14. For example, the communication unit 17 may include acommunication module that complies with mobile communications standards,such as 4G (4th Generation) or 5G (5th Generation). In this embodiment,the vehicle 12 is connected to the network 14 via the communication unit17.

The storage unit 18 includes one or more memories. In this embodiment,each of the memories may be a semiconductor memory, magnetic memory, oroptical memory, for example, but is not limited to these types. Eachmemory included in the storage unit 18 may function as a main storagedevice, auxiliary storage device, or cache memory, for example. Thestorage unit 18 stores any information used for operation of thecommunication device 15. For example, the storage unit 18 may storesystem programs, application programs, and identification information ofthe vehicle 12. The identification information of the vehicle 12 isinformation that enables each of the vehicles 12 to be uniquelyidentified in the information processing system 11. The informationstored in the storage unit 18 may be updated with information obtainedfrom the network 14 via the communication unit 17, for example.

The controller 19 includes one or more processors. In this embodiment,each of the processors may be a general-purpose processor, or adedicated processor for particular processing, but is not limited tothese types. The controller 19 controls operation of the communicationdevice 15 as a whole. In this embodiment, the vehicle 12 communicateswith the information processing device 10, via the communication device15 controlled by the controller 19. The vehicle 12 obtains and givesinformation, etc., by communicating with the information processingdevice 10.

The vehicle-mounted information processing device 16 is, for example, anavigation device that manages a wide variety of information in thevehicle 12. For example, the vehicle-mounted information processingdevice 16 collects detected information of the vehicle 12, which will bedescribed later. The vehicle-mounted information processing device 16gives the detected information thus collected, as it is, or as vehicleinformation obtained by processing the detected information, to theinformation processing device 10, via the communication device 15. Thevehicle-mounted information processing device 16 includes acommunication unit 20, storage unit 21, information obtaining unit 22,output unit 23, input unit 24, and controller 25.

The communication unit 20 includes a communication module that performscommunications via an on-board network or exclusive line.

The storage unit 21 includes one or more memories. Each of the memoriesincluded in the storage unit 21 may function as a main storage device,auxiliary storage device, or cache memory, for example. The storage unit21 stores any information used for operation of the vehicle-mountedinformation processing device 16. For example, the storage unit 21 maystore system programs, application programs, and so forth. Theinformation stored in the storage unit 21 may be updated withinformation obtained from the network 14 via the communication device15, for example.

The information obtaining unit 22 obtains detected information detectedby a wide variety of sensors installed on the vehicle 12, directly orvia an electronic control unit (ECU). The detected information includes,for example, the position of the vehicle 12, surrounding image of thevehicle 12, relative position of a road around the vehicle, and time.

The position of the vehicle 12 is a position of the vehicle 12 on a map,which is detected by a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver, forexample. The surrounding image of the vehicle 12 indicates, for example,an image or images around the vehicle 12, on at least one of the front,rear, and lateral sides of the vehicle 12, which is/are captured by avehicle-mounted camera or cameras. The vehicle-mounted camera may be amonocular camera or a stereo camera. The surrounding image may includean image of road conditions having an influence on the passability ofthe road around the vehicle 12. In other words, the surrounding imagemay include the passability of the road as its information. Thepassability of the road is based on a phenomenon, such as flooding on aroad or freezing of a road, which disappears as time passes. Also, thepassability of the road may be based on a phenomenon or event, such as adamaged road or a road occupied by an obstacle, which needs to beartificially eliminated. The relative position of the road around thevehicle indicates the position of the road around the vehicle 12,relative to the vehicle 12, which is detected by means of a stereocamera, ranging (distance measurement) sensor, such as LIDAR (LightDetection and Ranging), or the like. The above-mentioned time indicatesa cyclic time provided by a timer, for example.

The output unit 23 includes one or more output interfaces that outputinformation and inform the user of the information. For example, theoutput interface included in the output unit 23 is a display thatoutputs information visually, or a speaker that outputs informationaudibly, but is not limited to these types. For example, the display isa panel display, head-up display, or the like, but is not limited tothese types. In this embodiment, the visual output may include texts,still images, and moving images or videos.

The input unit 24 includes one or more input interfaces that detect userinput. For example, the input interface included in the input unit 24 isin the form of physical keys, capacitive keys, touch screen providedintegrally with the panel display of the output unit 23, or a microphonethat detects voice input, but is not limited to these types.

The controller 25 includes one or more processors. The controller 25controls operation of the vehicle-mounted information processing device16 as a whole.

The controller 25 may store a plurality of items of detected informationobtained at the same time by the information obtaining unit 22, in thestorage unit 21, such that these items of information are associatedwith each other, for example. The phrase “at the same time” means duringa period from the time at which a periodic time given periodically by atimer is obtained, to the time at which the next periodic time isobtained. Also, when the information obtaining unit 22 obtains detectedinformation, for example, the controller 25 may store the detectedinformation in the storage unit 21, such that the information isassociated with a time immediately before the detected information isobtained, among periodic times periodically given by the timer.

When the controller 25 obtains the surrounding image of the vehicle 12,it may extract an image of a road around the vehicle 12, from thesurrounding image, as will be described later. Further, the controller25 may estimate the passability of the road, based on the image of theroad, create information on the passability, as information other thanthe image, and include it in the detected information. The passabilityof the road as information includes at least “passable” or“non-passable”. The “passable” indicates good road conditions, whichpermit the vehicle 12 to travel on the road, without requiring thedriver to be particularly conscious of safe driving. Also, the“non-passable” indicates poor road conditions, which make it difficultfor the driver to run the vehicle 12, even if he/she pays particularattentions to the road conditions. Also, the passability of the road asinformation may include two or more stages between “passable” and“non-passable”, of conditions in which the vehicle can travel on theroad in a condition where the driver's consciousness of safe driving israised. Also, the controller 25, which is configured to extract the roadaround the vehicle, may calculate the relative position of the road withrespect to the vehicle 12, and include it in the detected information.

The controller 25 gives the detected information temporarily stored inthe storage unit 21, to the information processing device 10, as vehicleinformation detected by the vehicle 12 itself. The controller 25 maygive the vehicle information to the information processing device 10, ina cyclic manner, or on a regular basis, or at any time, such as when thesurrounding image is obtained, for example.

When the input unit 24 detects input of a request for route searchingmade by the user, the controller 25 executes route searching, based onthe first warning information, second warning information, and recoveryinformation, which are obtained via the communication unit 20. Thecontroller 25 may obtain the first warning information, second warninginformation, and recovery information, directly from the informationprocessing device 10, or indirectly via the information provision device13. The controller 25 causes the output unit 23 to output a proposedroute based on the result of execution of route searching.

When controller 25 obtains the first warning information or secondwarning information, it performs route searching, while excluding nodesincluding the position of the road included in the first warninginformation or second warning information. When the controller 25obtains the first warning information or second warning information, itmay output the position of the road that is non-passable, via the outputunit 23. Also, in the case where the controller 25 executes routesearching while excluding a node including the position of the roadincluded in the first warning information or second warning information,and then obtains recovering information with respect to the road at thesame position, the controller 25 performs route searching, withoutexcluding the node including the position of the road concerned. Also,when the controller 25 does not obtain either of the first warninginformation and the second warning information, too, it performs routesearching without excluding any particular node.

When the input unit 24 detects input of a request for route searchingmade by the user, the controller 25 may give the request to theinformation processing device 10 or information provision device 13. Thecontroller 25 may obtain a proposed route created by the informationprocessing device 10 or information provision device 13 in response tothe request for route searching, and output the proposed route via theoutput unit 23.

As shown in FIG. 3, the information processing device 10 includes anobtaining unit 26, giving unit 27, storage unit 28, and controller 29.

The obtaining unit 26 includes a communication module connected to thenetwork 14, for example. The obtaining unit 26 may include acommunication module that complies with wired LAN (Local Area Network)standards, for example. In this embodiment, the information processingdevice 10 is connected to the network 14 via the obtaining unit 26. Theobtaining unit 26 is able to obtain vehicle information from eachvehicle 12. Also, in the information processing device 10 adapted toexecute route searching for the vehicle 12, the obtaining unit 26 may beable to obtain a request for route searching, from the vehicle 12.

The giving unit 27 includes a communication module connected to thenetwork 14, for example. The giving unit 27 may include a communicationmodule that complies with the wired LAN standards, for example. Thegiving unit 27 gives the first warning information, second warninginformation, and recovery information, which will be described later, toat least one of the vehicles 12 and the information provision device 13.Also, in the information processing device 10 adapted to execute routesearching for the vehicle 12, the giving unit 27 may give a proposedroute to the vehicle 12. The giving unit 27 may be integral with theobtaining unit 26.

The storage unit 28 includes one or more memories. Each of the memoriesincluded in the storage unit 28 may function as a main storage device,auxiliary storage device, or cache memory, for example. The storage unit28 stores any information used for operation of the informationprocessing device 10. For example, the storage unit 28 may store systemprograms, application programs, map information, first warninginformation, and second warning information. The information stored inthe storage unit 28 may be updated with information obtained from thenetwork 14 via the obtaining unit 26, for example.

The controller 29 includes one or more processors. The controller 29controls operation of the information processing device 10 as a whole.

When the controller 29 obtains vehicle information from thevehicle-mounted information processing device 16, it determines whetherthe vehicle information includes the passability of a road and theposition of the road. When the vehicle information includes asurrounding image as one indicating the passability of the road, thecontroller 29 performs an image analysis, and extracts an image of theroad around the vehicle 12 in the surrounding image. As will bedescribed later, the position of the vehicle 12, or a position obtainedby adding the position of the road relative to the vehicle 12, to theposition of the vehicle 12, is regarded as the position of the road;therefore, the position of the road is considered as being included inthe vehicle information provided that at least the position of thevehicle 12 is included in the vehicle information.

The controller 29 determines conditions of the road thus extracted. Thecontroller 29 determines the passability of the road, at least between“passable” and “non-passable”, based on the determination result of theroad conditions.

For example, when the controller 29 determines that there is a puddle ofwater on the extracted road, it estimates the water depth of the puddle.The controller 29 may estimate the water depth, by determining the levelof the water surface relative to an adjunct, such as a guardrail or acurb, to the road, or through machine learning. When the water depth is20 cm or larger, for example, the controller 29 determines that floodingoccurred, and the passability of the road is “non-passable”. When thewater depth is less than 20 cm, for example, the controller 29determines that the passability of the road is “passable”.

When the controller 29 determines that snow is accumulated on theextracted road, for example, it determines conditions of accumulatedsnow. For example, the controller 29 determines the height of theaccumulated snow and the area of freezing, as conditions of accumulatedsnow. The controller 29 may estimate the height of the accumulated snow,by determining the level of the snow surface relative to an adjunct,such as a guardrail or a curb, to the road, or through machine learning,for example. The controller 29 may determine the area of freezing, byestimating an icing or freezing region from a reflected condition oflight, or a degree of distortion of an image of a road marking or sign,and calculating the area of the region, for example. When the height ofthe accumulated snow is equal to or greater than 40 cm, or when the areaof freezing includes a circle having a diameter of 1 m, for example, thecontroller 29 determines that the passability of the road is“non-passable”. When the height of the accumulated snow is less than 40cm, and the area of freezing does not include a circle having a diameterof 1 m, the controller 29 determines that the passability of the road is“passable”.

When the controller 29 determines that the passability of the road is“non-passable”, or when the controller 29 obtains vehicle informationincluding the passability of the road as information other than thesurrounding image and indicating “non-passable”, the controller 29regards the passability of the road as being “non-passable” in theobtained vehicle information. When the passability of the road in thevehicle information indicates “non-passable”, the controller 29 createsfirst warning information indicating that the position of the roadincluded in the vehicle information is non-passable, namely, thevehicles cannot pass the road at the position included in the vehicleinformation. The controller 29 stores the first warning information thuscreated, in the storage unit 28.

The controller 29 may recognize the position of a road based on thevehicle information, and regard the recognized position of the road asthe position of the road that is “non-passable” in the first warninginformation. The controller 29 may regard the position of the vehicle 12included in the vehicle information, for example, as the position of theroad. When the controller 29 obtains vehicle information including theposition of the road relative to the vehicle 12, it may regard aposition obtained by adding the relative position to the position of thevehicle 12 included in the vehicle information, as the position of theroad. When the controller 29 extracts a road around the vehicle, basedon the surrounding image, it may also calculate the position of the roadrelative to the vehicle 12, and regard a position obtained by adding therelative position to the position of the vehicle 12 included in thevehicle information, as the position of the road.

When the passability of the road in the vehicle information indicates“non-passable” because of occurrence of flooding, the controller 29 mayrecognize a source of water that caused flooding to occur at theposition of the road in the vehicle information. For example, thecontroller 29 reads a rainfall region in the vicinity of the position ofthe road, from a server of the Ministry of the Environment, for example,which provides weather information, so as to recognize the rainfallregion as the source of water. The vicinity of the position of the roadincludes a range in which a distance from the road position to the outeredge of the rainfall region is less than 100 m, for example. Thecontroller 29 may also recognize the source of water by another method.

When the controller 29 can recognize the source of water, it may selecta region that is lower in altitude than the position of the road, fromthe entire region between the source of water, and the position of theroad included in the vehicle information, based on map information. Thecontroller 29 may determine the presence or absence of a road that is adepression in the selected region, based on the map information. Whenthere is a road that is a depression, the controller 29 may createsecond warning information indicating that the position of thedepression on the road is “non-passable”. The controller 29 may storethe second warning information thus created, in the storage unit 28.

The controller 29 may give the first warning information and secondwarning information to an external device or devices, via the givingunit 27. As described above, the controller 29 gives the first warninginformation and second warning information to the vehicles 12 and theinformation provision device 13, for example.

Also, in the information processing device 10 having the function ofproposing a route in response to a request for route searching from thevehicle 12, the controller 29 may use the first warning information andthe second warning information during route searching. The controller 29may execute route searching while excluding a node including theposition of the road included in the first warning information or secondwarning information. After execution of route searching, the controller29 may give the proposed route, to the vehicle 12 that made the requestfor route searching.

When the controller 29 presumes that the passability of the road is“passable”, or when it obtains vehicle information including thepassability of the road as information other than the surrounding imageand indicating “passable”, the controller 29 regards the passability ofthe road as being “passable” in the obtained vehicle information. Whenthe passability of the road indicates “passable” in the obtained vehicleinformation, the controller 29 determines whether the first warninginformation or second warning information is stored in the storage unit28, with respect to the road at the same position as the position of theroad included in the vehicle information.

When the first warning information or second warning information isstored in the storage unit 28 with respect to the road at the sameposition, the controller 29 creates recovery information indicating thatthe position of the road is “passable”. When the controller 29 createsthe recovery information, it may delete the first warning informationand the second warning information stored in the storage unit 28, withregard to the road at the same position as the position of the roadindicating “passable” in the recovery information.

The controller 29 gives the recovery information to an external deviceor devices, via the giving unit 27. As described above, the controller29 gives the recovery information to the vehicles 12 and the informationprovision device 13, for example.

In the information processing device 10 having the function of proposinga route in response to a request for route searching from the vehicle12, when route searching using the first warning information and thesecond warning information has already been done, the controller 29 mayexecute route searching again, without excluding the node including theposition of the road included in the recovery information. Afterexecution of route searching, the controller 29 may give the proposedroute again, to the vehicle 12 to which the proposed route based on thefirst warning information and the second warning information has alreadybeen given.

As shown in FIG. 4, the information provision device 13 includes acommunication unit 30, storage unit 31, and controller 32. Theinformation provision device 13 may provide the vehicles 12 with trafficinformation, for example. The information provision device 13 may givethe first warning information, second warning information, andrecovering information obtained from the information processing device10, as traffic information, to the vehicles 12. The informationprovision device 13 may perform route searching, in response to arequest for route searching from the vehicle 12, and provide the vehicle12 with a proposed route.

The communication unit 30 includes a communication module connected tothe network 14. For example, the communication unit 30 may include acommunication module that complies with mobile communications standards,such as 4G (4th Generation) or 5G (5th Generation). In this embodiment,the information provision device 13 is connected to the network 14 viathe communication unit 30.

The storage unit 31 includes one or more memories. Each of the memoriesincluded in the storage unit 31 may function as a main storage device,auxiliary storage device, or cache memory, for example. The storage unit31 stores any information used for operation of the informationprovision device 13. For example, the storage unit 31 may store systemprograms, application programs, first warning information, secondwarning information, recovery information, and so forth. The informationstored in the storage unit 31 may be updated with information obtainedfrom the network 14 via the communication unit 30, for example.

The controller 32 includes one or more processors. The controller 32controls operation of the information provision device 13 as a whole.

When the controller 32 obtains any of the first warning information,second warning information, and recovery information, from theinformation processing device 10, via the communication unit 30, it maystore the information in the storage unit 31. When the controller 32obtains the recovery information, it may delete the first warninginformation and second warning information, with regard to the road atthe same position as the position of the road included in the recoveryinformation, from the storage unit 31.

The controller 32 gives the first warning information, second warninginformation, and recovery information stored in the storage unit 31, tothe vehicles 12, via the communication unit 30. The controller 32 maygive the above information to each vehicle 12, in a cyclic manner, or ona regular basis, or at any time, such as when it receives a request fromthe vehicle 12, for example. The controller 32 may delete recoveryinformation from the storage unit 31, after giving the recoveryinformation for the first time, or after giving the recovery informationtwo or more times, for example.

As described above, in the information provision device 13 having afunction of proposing a route in response to a request for routesearching from the vehicle 12, the controller 32 may execute routesearching, based on a request for route searching which is obtained fromthe vehicle 12.

When the first warning information and the second warning informationare stored in the storage unit 31, the controller 32 may execute routesearching, while excluding a node including the position of the roadincluded in the first warning information or second warning information.After executing route searching, the controller 32 may give a proposedroute, to the vehicle 12 that made the request for route searching.

In the case where the controller 32 has searched for a route, using thefirst warning information and the second warning information, andobtains recovery information with regard to the road at the sameposition, it may execute route searching again, without excluding thenode including the position of the road included in the recoveryinformation. After executing route searching, the controller 32 may givea proposed route again, to the vehicle 12 that has already been providedwith the route proposed based on the first warning information and thesecond warning information.

Next, a vehicle information giving process executed by the controller 25of the vehicle-mounted information processing device 16 according tothis embodiment, where the controller 25 does not extract images ofroads, will be described using the flowchart of FIG. 5. The vehicleinformation giving process is started at the same time that vehicleinformation is given to the information processing device 10.

In step S100, the controller 25 obtains detected information. Afterobtaining the detected information, the controller 25 proceeds to stepS101.

In step S101, the controller 25 stores the detected information obtainedin step S100, in the storage unit 21, such that the information isassociated with the time at which it was obtained. After storing thedetected information, the controller 25 proceeds to step S102.

In step S102, the controller 25 determines whether the present time isthe time to give vehicle information. When it is not the time to givevehicle information, the controller 25 returns to step S100. When it isthe time to give vehicle information, the controller 25 proceeds to stepS103.

In step S103, the controller 25 gives a plurality of types of detectedinformation stored in association with the time in step S101, as vehicleinformation, to the information processing device 10, via thecommunication unit 20. After giving the vehicle information, the vehicleinformation giving process ends.

Next, a vehicle information giving process executed by the controller 25of the vehicle-mounted information processing device 16 according tothis embodiment, where the controller 25 extracts images of roads, willbe described using the flowchart of FIG. 6. The vehicle informationgiving process is started at the same time that vehicle information isgiven to the information processing device 10, for example.

In step S200, the controller 25 obtains detected information. Afterobtaining the detected information, the controller 25 proceeds to stepS201.

In step S201, the controller 25 determines whether a surrounding imageis included in the vehicle information obtained in step S200. When thesurrounding image is included, the controller 25 proceeds to step S202.When the surrounding image is not included, the controller 25 proceedsto step S203.

In step S202, the controller 25 extracts an image of a road, from thesurrounding image in the vehicle information obtained in step S200. Thecontroller 25 estimates the passability of the road, based on theextracted image of the road. Also, the controller 25 calculates therelative position of the road, based on the surrounding image. Afterextraction, the controller 25 proceeds to step S203.

In step S203, the controller 25 stores the detected information obtainedin step S200, the passability of the road when the passability of theroad can be estimated in step S202, the relative position of the roadwhen it is calculated in step S202, in the storage unit 21, inassociation with the respective times at which these items ofinformation were obtained. After storing the information, the controller25 proceeds to step S204.

In steps S204, S205, the controller 25 performs the same operation assteps S102, S103 of the vehicle information giving process executed bythe controller 25 that does not extract images of objects. In step S205,the controller 25 gives the vehicle information, and the vehicleinformation giving process ends.

Next, a road condition checking process executed by the controller 29 ofthe information processing device 10 according to this embodiment willbe described using the flowchart of FIG. 7. The road condition checkingprocess is started each time the vehicle information is obtained, forexample.

In step S300, the controller 29 determines whether the obtained vehicleinformation includes the passability of a road and the position of theroad. When the vehicle information does not include the passability orthe position, the road condition checking process ends. When the vehicleinformation includes the passability and the position, the controller 29proceeds to step S301.

In step S301, the controller 29 determines whether the passability ofthe road is included in the vehicle information, in a form other thanthe surrounding image. When the passability of the road is included asinformation in the form other than the surrounding image, the controller29 proceeds to step S303. When the passability of the road is includedin the form of the surrounding image, the controller 29 proceeds to stepS302.

In step S302, the controller 29 extracts an image of the road, in thesurrounding image in the obtained vehicle information. The controller 29estimates the passability of the road, based on the extracted image ofthe road. Also, the controller 29 calculates the relative position ofthe road based on the surrounding image. After extracting the roadimage, the controller 29 proceeds to step S303.

In step S303, the controller 29 determines whether the passability ofthe road in the obtained vehicle information, or the passability of theroad estimated in step S302, is “non-passable”. When it is not“non-passable”, the controller 29 proceeds to step S311. When it is“non-passable”, the controller 29 proceeds to step S304.

In step S304, the controller 29 creates the first warning informationthat informs that the vehicle 12 cannot pass the road at the positionincluded in the vehicle information. Further, the controller 29 storesthe created first warning information in the storage unit 28. Aftercreating the first warning information, the controller 29 proceeds tostep S305.

In step S305, the controller 29 gives the first warning informationcreated and stored in step S304, to the vehicles 12 or the informationprovision device 13. After giving the first warning direction, thecontroller 29 proceeds to step S306.

In step S306, the controller 29 determines whether the passability isdetermined as “non-passable” in step S303 because of flooding. When thepassability that is “non-passable” is not caused by flooding, the roadcondition checking process ends. When the passability that is“non-passable” is caused by flooding, the controller 29 proceeds to stepS307.

In step S307, the controller 29 recognizes a source of water whichcaused flooding at the position of the road included in the vehicleinformation. After recognizing the source of water, the controller 29proceeds to step S308.

In step S308, the controller 29 determines whether there is a depressionin a region that is lower in altitude than the road, between theposition of the road included in the vehicle information, and the sourceof water recognized in step S307. When there is no depression, the roadcondition checking process ends. When there is such a depression, thecontroller 29 proceeds to step S309.

In step S309, the controller 29 creates the second warning information.Further, the controller 29 stores the created second warning informationin the storage unit 28. After creating the information, the controller29 proceeds to step S310.

In step S310, the controller 29 gives the second warning informationcreated and stored in step S309, to the vehicles 12 or the informationprovision device 13. After giving the information, the road conditionchecking process ends.

In step S311 to which the controller 29 proceeds when the road ispassable in step S303, the controller 29 determines whether the firstwarning information or the second warning information is stored in thestorage unit 28, with respect to the same position as the position ofthe road included in the vehicle information. When neither the firstwarning information nor the second warning information is stored, theroad condition checking process ends. When the first warning informationor the second warning information is stored, the controller 29 proceedsto step S312.

In step S312, the controller 29 deletes the first warning information orsecond warning information, which was determined in step S311 as beingstored, from the storage unit 28. After deleting the information, thecontroller 29 proceeds to step S313.

In step S313, the controller 29 creates recovery information. Aftercreating the recovery information, the controller 29 proceeds to stepS314.

In step S314, the controller 29 gives the recovery information createdin step S313, to the vehicles 12 or the information provision device 13.After giving the information, the road condition checking process ends.

Next, a first node setting process executed by the controller 25 of thevehicle-mounted information processing device 16 according to thisembodiment will be described using the flowchart of FIG. 8. The firstnode setting process is started after the first warning information orsecond warning information is obtained from the information processingdevice 10.

In step S400, the controller 25 stores the obtained first warninginformation or second warning information in the storage unit 21. Afterstoring the information, the controller 25 proceeds to step S401.

In step S401, the controller 25 excludes a node including the positionof the road included in the first warning information or second warninginformation stored in step S400, from adoptable nodes used for routesearching. The adoptable nodes are nodes that can be used for routesearching, among all nodes stored in the storage unit 21, and are storedin the storage unit 21. After excluding the above node, the first nodesetting process ends.

Next, a second node setting process executed by the controller 25 of thevehicle-mounted information processing device 16 in this embodiment willbe described using the flowchart of FIG. 9. The second node settingprocess is started after the recovery information is obtained from theinformation processing device 10.

In step S500, the controller 25 determines whether the first warninginformation or second warning information for the same position as theposition of the road included in the obtained recovery information isstored in the storage unit 21. When the first warning information orsecond warning information for the same position is not stored, thesecond node setting process ends. When the first warning information orsecond warning information for the same position is stored, thecontroller 25 proceeds to step S501.

In step S501, the controller 25 deletes the first warning information orsecond warning information determined as being stored in the storageunit 21 in step S500, from the storage unit 21. After the deletion, thecontroller 25 proceeds to step S502.

In step S502, the controller 25 cancels exclusion of the node includingthe position of the road included in the obtained recovery information,from the adoptable nodes. After the cancellation, the second nodesetting process ends.

Next, a route searching process executed by the controller 25 of thevehicle-mounted information processing device 16 in this embodiment willbe described using the flowchart of FIG. 10. The route searching processis stated in a cyclic manner, or on a regular basis, or at any time,such as when any of the first warning information, second warninginformation, and recovery information is obtained, after detection ofinput of a request for route searching in the input unit 24, and duringoutput of a proposed route.

In step S600, the controller 25 recognizes a point of departure and adestination set in route searching. After the recognition, thecontroller 25 proceeds to step S601.

In step S601, the controller 25 recognizes the adoptable nodes. Afterthe recognition, the controller 25 proceeds to step S602.

In step S602, the controller 25 performs route searching, based on thepoint of departure and destination recognized in step S600, adoptablenodes recognized in step S601, and all links stored in the storage unit21. After searching, the controller 25 proceeds to step S603.

In step S603, the controller 25 outputs the proposed route determinedthrough route searching in step S602, to the output unit 23. Afteroutput of the proposed route, the route searching process ends.

The information processing device 10 of this embodiment configured asdescribed above creates and gives the first warning information when thepassability of the road in the vehicle information indicates“non-passable”. With this configuration, the information processingdevice 10 directly or indirectly informs a large number of vehicles 12of a non-passable road or roads, so that the safety of traffic can beimproved. Further, the information processing device 10 creates andgives the recovery information when the vehicle information indicates“passable”, with respect to the road at the same position after creationof the first warning information. With this configuration, theinformation processing device 10 directly or indirectly informs a largenumber of vehicles 12 that the road that was once determined as“non-passable” is recovered and becomes passable, so that the number ofthe vehicles 12 that avoid traveling on the road can be reduced, and thesmoothness of traffic flow can be made less likely or unlikely to bereduced.

Also, when the passability of the road indicates “non-passable” becauseof flooding, the information processing device 10 of this embodimentdetermines whether there is a depression in a region that is lower inaltitude than the position of the road, between the recognized source ofwater and the position of the road that is “non-passable”, and createsand gives the second warning information indicating that the position ofthe depression is “non-passable”. With this configuration, theinformation processing device 10 can directly or indirectly inform alarge number of vehicles 12 that the vehicles 12 are unable to pass theposition where flooding is highly likely to occur, without relying onsurrounding images. Accordingly, the information processing device 10can further improve the safety of traffic.

While the disclosure has been described above based on the drawings andthe embodiment, it is to be understood that various changes andmodifications can be easily made by those skilled in the art, based onthis disclosure. Accordingly, it is to be noted that these changes andmodifications are included in the scope of the disclosure. For example,functions, etc. included in respective components or steps can bere-arranged unless they are logically inconsistent, and two or moremeans or steps may be combined into one, or may be divided.

In the illustrated embodiment, the communication device 15 is theon-board communication device, and the vehicle-mounted informationprocessing device 16 is the navigation device installed on the vehicle12. However, a part or the whole of processing operation performed bythe communication device 15 and the vehicle-mounted informationprocessing device 16 may be performed by any electronic device, such asa smartphone or computer, for example.

For example, a part of processing operation performed by thevehicle-mounted information processing device 16 in the above embodimentmay be performed by the information processing device 10 or theinformation provision device 13, and a part of processing operationperformed by the information processing device 10 may be performed bythe vehicle-mounted information processing device 16 or the informationprovision device 13.

For example, a general-purpose electronic device, such as a smartphoneor computer, may be configured to function as the communication device15, vehicle-mounted information processing device 16, informationprocessing device 10, or information provision device 13 according tothe above embodiment. More specifically, a program that describes thecontent of processing for implementing each function of thecommunication device 15, for example, according to the embodiment isstored in a memory of the electronic device, and the program is read andexecuted by a processor of the electronic device. Thus, the disclosureinvolved with this embodiment can be implemented in the form of aprogram that can be run by a processor.

In the illustrated embodiment, the controller 29 of the informationprocessing device 10 estimates the passability of the road, based on thevehicle information. However, the controller 29 may obtain and estimatethe passability of the road, based on surrounding images obtained fromfixed point cameras or information other than images.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information processing device comprising: acommunication module configured to receive vehicle surroundinginformation including information on a first road and a second road,from a vehicle; and a processor configured to: when images received froma vehicle located at the first road shows that the first road isnon-passable because of occurrence of flooding, identify a source of theoccurrence of the flooding at the first road, determine a low altituderegion of which altitude is lower than that of the first road, and isbetween the first road and a position of the source, determine whether adepression exists in the low altitude region, wherein the second roadincludes the depression in the low altitude region, and based upon thedetermination that the depression exists in the low altitude region,generate warning information indicating that the second road isnon-passable without being based on vehicle surrounding images.
 2. Theinformation processing device according to claim 1, wherein passabilityof the road depends on a phenomenon that disappears as time passes. 3.The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein theprocessor is configured to output the warning information to a networkfor distribution to other vehicles.
 4. The information processing deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to generatefirst warning information indicating the first road is non-passable whenthe images received from the vehicle located at the first road showsthat the first road is non-passable because of occurrence of flooding.5. The information processing device according to claim 4, wherein theprocessor is configured to generate recovery information that the firstroad become passable when images received from another vehicle locatedat the first road after generating the first warning information showsthat the first road is passable.
 6. The information processing deviceaccording claim 5, wherein the processor is configured to output thefirst warning information and the recovery information to a network fordistribution to other vehicles.
 7. The information processing deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured topropose a route in response to a request for route searching, and theproposed route utilizes the warning information and the first warninginformation during route searching so as to exclude a node that includesthe road included in at least one of the first warning information andthe second information.
 8. An information processing system comprising:a vehicle-mounted information processing device configured to transmitvehicle surrounding information including information on a first roadand a second road; and an information processing device having aprocessor configured to: when images received from the vehicle-mountedinformation processing device shows that the first road is non-passablebecause of occurrence of flooding, identify a source of the occurrenceof the flooding at the first road, determine a low altitude region ofwhich altitude is lower than that of the first road, and is between thefirst road and a position of the source, determine whether a depressionexists in the low altitude region, wherein the second road includes thedepression in the low altitude region, and based upon the determinationthat the depression exists in the low altitude region, generate warninginformation indicating that the second road is non-passable withoutbeing based on vehicle surrounding images.
 9. An information processingmethod comprising: receiving vehicle surrounding information includinginformation on a first road and a second road, from a vehicle; whenimages received from a vehicle located at the first road shows that thefirst road is non-passable because of occurrence of flooding,identifying a source of the occurrence of the flooding at the firstroad; determining a low altitude region of which altitude is lower thanthat of the first road, and is between the first road and a position ofthe source; determining whether a depression exists in the low altituderegion, wherein the second road includes the depression in the lowaltitude region; and based upon the determination that the depressionexists in the low altitude region, generating warning informationindicating that the second road is non-passable without being based onvehicle surrounding images.